warriorsfanficfandomcom-20200213-history
Rules Are Meant to Be Broken/Six
"Settle down, you six. I know you're excited but now's not the time for idle chit-chat! There's a story to be told. Speaking of the story, our tale takes place in the moons of my kithood, on the day of my brother's warrior ceremony. Frostleap was considerably older than I was, though, if I do say so myself, a bit lacking in the intelligence area. He'd always been one to rely on brute strength instead of wit, so it was rather fitting that this is the story of his demise. It was within the first quarter-moon of Newleaf that Frostleap was made a warrior. He and his best friend Sageclaw - then Sagepaw - and a few other apprentices had recently completed their training with flying colors, and so Eustar (who was then considerably more fit and young than he is now) was trying to keep up with all of the soon-to-be warriors. His deputy of the time, a former loner who had originally decided to keep the name Grocery, then was rechristened as Fishwing, had been helping and supporting the new leader nonstop. All was going well in the Clan. There had been a couple of recent animal attacks, but nothing that demanded immediate attention or combat crews or any of the new fighting techniques Fishwing and Eustar had been thinking up lately. Everything was running smoothly, including the prey. No one would have wished it any other way. Except, perhaps, Frostpaw. From the moment he'd been born, the snowy tom had always been eager to advance, to excel. Unlike some of his other littermates, he preferred to do so with brute force, strength, muscle. He wasn't one to smooth talk his way out of sticky situations, or sneak out of camp if he wanted to explore; instead, Frostpaw would knock down his opponent or beat the sentry senseless and go blundering into the wild with a trail of exasperated cats on his little white heels (on the contrary, they were actually quite large heels). It was only natural that his mentor Shinefrost had begun to grow impateint with him, and vice versa. Consequently, Frostpaw was prone to insulting people. Not only was he almost empty in the mental area, but his emotional capacity was sadly lacking as well. He had a habit, per se, of creating both rude nicknames (''Fat''belly, for example) and referring to cats' pasts - he had even taking to calling his mentor a kittypet, as was per her original non-Clan heritage. That is the end - though not in any terms was it actually the end, for Frostpaw's antics reached a lot further than his blundering tendencies or petty name-calling - of Frostpaw's apprenticehood mistakes, however. Anyways, in Newleaf, Frostpaw was made a warrior. He and Sagepaw had passed with flying colors, their mentors had ruefully reported, and so it was Eustar's wish that they then ascend the ranks into warriorhood. While many believed that, maturity-wise, they were not quite at their peaks, Eustar saw fit to give them their names and that hurdle was crossed (rather, demolished by Frostpaw's raucous yells and excited exclamations). The day was warm, and so Eustar gathered the entire Clan. Shinefrost and Sagepaw's mentor - whose name is likely not particularly important - were both standing before Eustar's perch, and so naturally it was Frostpaw and Sagepaw's assumption that they were to be made warriors. For what was possibly the first time in their lives, they were fully and completely correct. So Eustar made them warriors, granting them the titles of Frostleap and Sageclaw, and as the day turned to night they were set up on guard duty at the entrance to the camp. The moon was less than quarter-full, but it was with sharp eyes that the dynamic duo surveyed the camp. Of course, as soon as everyone went to bed, Frostleap began to strike up a loud conversation with his comrade. Because if no one was visible, that surely meant that one would not be able to hear Frostleap, surely? Surely not, but as Frostleap's lack of intelligence is already apparent, one would be able to wager that he did not share the same opinion. "We get to sleep in the warriors' den," Frostleap crowed, his joyful yell filling up the entire camp. There were muffled groans issuing from the den in question, but they were in turn ignored by Frostleap and his partner. "And no more getting up early for ''patrols ''or ''hunting ''and we can do whatever we want under the StarClan-forsaken sun!" Sageclaw nodded his assent, his wide, dumb blue eyes shining. Frostleap continued to shower the slumbering Clan with exuberant, loud comments. He spoke with such a boisterous tone that he didn't even hear the prickling of leaves in the forest, or the way the thorn tunnel began to tremble behind him. Nor did he notice how Sageclaw dropped, like a leaf to the forest floor, with a tin trail of blood leaking from his agape muzzle. Frostleap was so engaged in his commentary that he didn't even notice the slender black paw that retracted into the bushes - but he did notice when the very same paw wrapped around his throat. For naught but a moment, Frostleap struggled. He tried to yowl, but the paw cutting off his windpipe made it next to impossible to do so. With a final, vicious heave that took most of his effort, Frostleap flung his attacker from his back and it was thrown into the center of the camp. For a moment, there was silence. Then came the real attack. Foxes plunged into the camp, their slender red bodies licking the place like flames. Shrieks came from each den as Frostleap, incapacitated again by a new assailant, watched helplessly. He struggled against his attacker, trying to recover with flailing paws and flying legs, but it was no use. Just as Sageclaw had done, Frostleap soon sank to the ground and lie there as the battle - albeit a one-sided one - raged on. At the end of it, seven cats were dead. Frostleap's milky pelt soon joined the row of bodies along with Sageclaw's as his Clanmates stared on. Seven cats had been killed because of Frostleap. ○ "Yes, of course, it was a little bit jarring! No, he wasn't the best brother and while I was shaken up...I didn't know him that well. It wasn't my place to grieve. My mother went into a bad place for a while and took the loss pretty hard, but she soon came around. Wasn't quite the same but--yes, Tanglekit, that's why we have vigils. Hush, you three! Bramblepath, see if you can reign this lot in."